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After we arrived in Hawaii to spend two months living there, we quickly discovered that food is expensive on the islands. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Most things have to be shipped in from somewhere else and Hawaii is in the middle of the ocean. We even saw a box of one of our household prized sweets, Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls, for around $7! We surmised that if we were going to stay in our budget we would have eat like the locals and not like the tourists. And what great providence we found in loco moco.

Loco moco is an extremely easy, cheap, and filling dish to make and since returning home we have incorporated it into our cooking repertoire on many occasion. Loco moco is simply steamed rice with a hamburger patty and brown gravy topped with a fried egg. It may sound a little odd to most traditional American palates but take a chance on this Hawaiian delight and your taste buds will thank you for the savory adventure.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

2 cups rice

4 cups water

2 brown gravy packets

4 eggs

salt & pepper for taste

Heat water in pot on stove top to boiling. Add rice and reduce heat to Low.

While rice is cooking divide ground beef into 4 patties. Cook patties on grill or in a pan on the stove top to preferred done-ness. We cooked ours on the stove top on medium heat shooting for Medium done-ness.

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Prepare your packet gravy according to instructions on the packet. This is probably along the lines of add to saucepan with water and heat. If you want to make gravy from scratch (which is delicious) check out our poutine post for a great recipe.

When the rice is done go ahead and split it into four bowls and place your finished burger patties on top. These can sit for a few minutes while you fry up your eggs. It is best to fry the eggs to medium or runny so that the yolk will merge with the gravy and make a delicious sauce.

As each egg finishes place it on the burger patties and top the whole pile with plenty of gravy.

Another great thing about loco moco is that you can modify it all you want. Do you like spicy? Go ahead and chop some jalapenos and through them in there or drizzle on some sriracha. I’ve been known to through in some peanuts or cashews to add some crunch.

Have fun cooking up this great local Hawaiian dish and don’t be afraid to experiment by adding a few unique touches.